The present invention is directed to a method for ascertaining and selecting creation processes for the creation of products in the graphics industry, each product being described by one or more product properties.
To create products in the graphics industry, a precise planning of the creation process is required. This is because, for the most part, a multiplicity of machines is needed to process the printing substrates, as well as a multiplicity of consumables used in the creation of such products. This planning begins with the selection of a printing substrate, which can be obtained in many sizes, grades of material, colors, and so on. The planning continues with the selection of the appropriate printing press as a function of the printed format, the selected printing substrate, and the printing inks, etc., The planning culminates in the subsequent processing using folding machines and packaging machines. Therefore, the production process must be precisely analyzed and planned, to ensure that the necessary machines and consumables are available.
Upon completion of planning a creation process in a printing plant, the process is mostly recorded in so-called job dockets, which, traditionally, as real physical dockets, accompany the printed product on its path through the processing stations. In present-day work-flow systems, these real job dockets are being replaced by virtual job dockets, comprising digital data files, which, from processing station to processing station, are relayed to the participating machines and, thus, accompany the printed product through the creation process. Such a virtual job docket is typically prepared by a printer who has experience and a working knowledge of the machinery of the printing plant. The printer plans, step by step, the creation process from the pre-press stage, through the actual printing process, and culminating in further processing and packaging.
A considerable drawback of this procedure is that only printers, who are intimately familiar with the capabilities of the existing machinery, are able to plan a production process in this way. Moreover, even experienced printers do not recognize all of the available options that their machinery offers. In addition, the computations needed to prepare the creation process are worked out individually and, if necessary, repeated several times by the printer when transition problems among the individual processes arise. An example of such a case is when the printing substrate exits the printing press in a format that a downstream folding machine cannot process. The printer must then add an additional cutting process manually, in order to complete the creation process.